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Chapter Text

"What?!"

The man in front of Xu Minghao rubbed his forehead as he repeated the case to him for the nth time. 

"We said what we said, Detective Xu. The higher ups decided this themselves."

"I literally caught him! And now you want me to be in charge of him?! Give me a break!"

"You have no choice, Detective Xu, you can't defy their orders," and with that the man stood up and left the room, leaving an angry and confused Minghao in his seat. Why him? 

He literally just caught the criminal a month ago and now he's going to keep watch of him? 

Well he couldn't really say he "caught" the notorious killer, since all he did was show up. The killer turned in himself with a smile saying, "You caught me!" with a cheerful voice. He even lifted his arms, a sign of surrender.

Minghao looked at the documents on the table with a scornful look. He picked it up and scanned the contents, the folder was stamped with a big red CONFIDENTIAL. Is it really this important to them?

Moon Junhui. Has psychological issues such as antisocial personality disorder and severe obsessive compulsive disorder--this is the reason why the murder sites are hardly dirty. Reported to have killed 89 civilians, regardless of their gender and age, before getting caught.

According to the suspect himself, his first victims were the couple next door that took care of him when his parents weren't home. The murder happened in between 12mn - 2am, and the corpse was found at 5am at an alley near the couple's house. 

No evidence was seen in the crime scene--no footprints from the suspect, no murder weapon found at the scene, no witnesses, and no CCTV footage of the suspect.

It was like a ghost killed them and disappeared without a trace. In the end, they couldn't find any leads regarding the murder and dropped the investigation. Who knew the killer was just under their noses. Minghao shaked his head in disappointment. Although he was still just a 9 year old at that time, he keeps track of the news. He needed to know what was happening around him, since he wished to be a detective. Minghao flipped the page and read the second page.

The way Moon Junhui kills (or so the document says)

The suspect first ties the people up with a rope, gags them with a cloth. and brings them to the bathroom to stab them multiple times. He then makes sure to wash the blood off the corpses before carrying them to the living room, where he places them carefully on the sofa and positions them as if they were sitting. He, then, turns on the houses’ air conditioner and closes the windows before leaving.

Sometimes corpses were found in the bedroom, on the bed, placed as if they were simply sleeping, but the stench that the corpse emits couldn't be hidden.

[Reasons are unknown]

Minghao flipped the paper and read the remaining pages. It was his relationship with his victims.

Known victims - Chi Caihong : female, Chin Nuanping : female, An Zhenzhou : male, ...- said to be friends with the suspect during his stay in Shanghai until they moved and went back to Shenzhen, where they originally lived...

Minghao continued on reading until he reached the end.

[End of Report]

45 civilians lived in Shanghai, and half were neighbours of Moon Junhui while the other half doesn't have a relation to the suspect but were friends with the other victims that were found on site together with them. 28 lived in Shenzhen, all of them were said to be friends with Junhui, some are even his relatives. And the family of 3 lived in Beijing and wasn't related to Junhui, but was murdered when they took a vacation in Shenzhen. How lucky. 11 policemen were killed trying to capture Junhui.

The remaining two victims were his parents. He killed them on the day he was captured and imprisoned.

Was it because of guilt?

No.

When the investigators interviewed him they asked the same question, and Junhui answered, "Guilt? Definitely not. The only time I felt that was when I ran over a dog. I certainly didn't feel any guilt."

"...Then why?"

"Uh because detective Minghao caught me red handed?" he looked at the investigator in front of him, as if the man was as dumb as a turkey. "And I'm not confident in winning a battle against a detective who probably trains daily."

"..."

"I'm quite weak you see"

Ah he won’t give me an answer. The investigator shook his head and dropped the question.

Minghao drove home, while thinking about the male killer. The documents about Moon Junhui were tucked in his bag. 

One week… I’ll pick him up in one week

He hasn’t been this nervous, ever since he was put in charge of Moon Junhui’s case. And here he is, getting nervous for the exact same person.

Aiya stop thinking about it. Let’s just quickly go home.

Chapter Text

“Moon Junhui. Age 24. Born on June 10, 1996  in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Mother: deceased. Father: deceased. Known guardians: none”

An officer read the document in his hand out loud to the person in front of him.

“Correct~!” Jun smiled at the officer, “I’d clap my hands, but you tied me up…,” he pouted at the binding straps around him. The officer didn’t pay him any attention and just proceeded to interview him. 

“What was your purpose in killing them?” The officer asked him in all seriousness and with an intimidating aura, but Jun didn’t feel threatened in the slightest. He just smirked at the officer and answered.

“Oh my, could it be you haven’t found out yet? So much for being the smartest officer,”

“You-!” the officer held his tongue. No matter what, he had to keep his composure, he didn’t want to stoop as low as the killer in front of him. He closed his eyes to calm himself for a second. He’s just getting on your nerves. Don’t mind him.

Jun giggled at the officer’s reaction, but didn’t comment any further. “Whatever, do your best. So when am I gonna meet Detective Xu again?”

“Tomorrow”

Jun smiled. It was the type of smile everybody displays when they’re truly happy. No malice, and no ill intentions behind it. But the officer still shivered at the sight. Why is he so obsessed with that detective?

Jun saw the officer’s face and laughed. “Why are you so scared of me?”

“?!”

“It’s not like I’ll kill you or anything,” Jun continued to laugh in his seat, but his tone suddenly got serious when he said, “That is if you fulfill your side of our agreement,” then he ended with a smile.

The officer definitely got chills across his body, but he decided to ignore it. He coughed to ease his nerves and moved on to the next question. “We spent 3 years trying to catch you, but we weren’t able to do so, until yesterday.”

Jun nodded.

“You killed your parents on the same day too.”

Jun nodded.

“Did you turn yourself in because of them?”

Jun tilted his head in confusion.

“Were you guilty because you killed them?”

Jun stared blankly at the officer for a second before he looked at the floor. The officer got awkward and was about to talk again when Junhui’s laughter burst out. The officer didn’t know why the convict was laughing and he certainly didn’t know what to do in that situation, so he just waited until Jun was done.

Jun’s laughter died down a couple seconds later, but fits of giggles still escaped from him. The officer couldn’t wait any longer and asked, “Why did you laugh? Did I say something wrong?”

“Ah yes. It’s just quite funny you see. The only time I felt guilty of something was when I ran over a dog. I certainly didn't feel any guilt in killing my parents."

"...Then why?"

"Uh because detective Minghao caught me red handed?" he looked at the investigator in front of him, as if the man was as dumb as a turkey. "And I'm not confident in winning a battle against a detective who probably trains daily."

"..."

"I'm quite weak you see"

You literally killed 11 skilled policemen and injured 19, who trained longer than him. The investigator shook his head and dropped the question.

“During the actual moments when they murdered your victims. What was going through your mind?”

“Hm that’s a hard question. I never really paid attention to it. Eagerness I guess. I don’t really like wasting my time in killing. I’m a busy man,”

The interview went on for several hours like this. It ended when the officer slammed his notebook shut and stood up.

“Hey, not even a thank you?”

The officer answered with a slam of the door.

“Awe he’s mad”

Jun then continued to whistle a random tune.

Outside the officer met with the chief superintendent, Zhou Feihong. The officer offered a salute, which Feihong returned, before turning his gaze to the whistling man behind the two way glass. Zhou Feihong quietly watched the man in the other room. And as if Moon Junhui felt their gazes on him, he stopped whistling and ‘looked’ at them.

The officer shivered as he felt like Junhui was looking at him in the eye and peering into his deepest thoughts, but that can’t be. He shouldn't be able to see them. He should be gazing at his reflection right now… right? The officer looked at Feihong’s face to look at his reaction, but he was as calm as ever. As expected of a high ranker.

He shifted his gaze back to the man in the other room. Junhui continued to smile through the glass.

What a creep…

Chapter Text

Today was the day.

Minghao could already feel the headache coming. He wanted to turn back around and call in sick, but he couldn’t do that, so he just continued on driving. Praying that their headquarters will collapse and the killer will suffocate and die.

Alas, he arrived at the police headquarters. He went down to the basement #2 with nothing but dread. He didn’t want to meet the killer again. He felt a sense of nostalgia when he saw Junhui. Like he met him somewhere before. He had a feeling they were friends.

But no matter how Minghao tried to remember, he can’t recall him.

MInghao opened the door to the room the killer was held in. Aside from Junhui, only three detectives were inside. Weren’t they scared that the killer might go berserk?

He was about to warn the detectives, but he realized the killer in the room was calm. Too calm. Junhui stared at him with the same look when he found him in the living room.

“Detective Xu”

That snapped him out of his thoughts. He looked at the two sitting detectives before turning his head to the third. Oh shit. He quickly saluted. “Chief Zhou, I apologize, I didn’t notice you sooner”

Zhou Feihong just waved it off and ushered Minghao to sit. “Detective Xu have you already been briefed of your responsibility?”

“Yes, sir”

“Alright, but I’ll explain it again in full detail for the two of you,” Feihong gestured to the man sitting across them.

“Moon Junhui will be monitored 24/7 and put under Chief Inspector Xu Minghao. He will be helping Detective Xu in solving cases, particularly in cases dealing with murder. Moon Junhui will be given a new identity, but as the man in question demanded, we will only be changing his last name. His new name will be Wen Junhui, the necessary details of his identity are here,” Feihong handed me a folder.

“He will also wear a special collar that automatically injects a vial directly in his neck when his brain is showing signs of going back to his ways.”

A collar? That’s like… “A dog”

Zhou Feihong laughed at my remark. “A dog! Indeed! He might as well be a dog!”

Minghao suddenly got nervous.  Minghao glanced at Junhui. He was scared that Junhui would get angry and kill everyone in the room, since he hasn’t worn the collar yet.

But Junhui wasn’t mad. He was pouting, but he wasn’t mad. “Dog? I’d rather be a cat though,” he said.

“Oh, do you mean you want to laze around all day?”

“ Cats are lazy because it helps them conserve energy, mea ning when it's time for them to hunt they will have more energy to successfully be able to snag their prey.”

Minghao watched as they talked about something completely out of topic. The two other detectives in the room were just as lost as Minghao. Why did they talk like they were best buddies? 

“Ah so you do know your facts Mr. Wen Junhui”

“Oh please drop the formalities, Jun is fine. And I’m not as ignorant as you think, Chief Zhou”

Wait. Did he just--

The two detectives tried their best to hide their laughter, seeing that it would be rude. But giggles would still escape. If Zhou Feihong noticed it, then he didn’t show it. He just continued to smile at the convict--who had a smug look on his face.

Minutes after complete silence and just staring at each other, Feihong just nodded and stood up. He placed the collar in my hands before he patted me in the shoulder. “We’ll leave it to you.”

What?! Just like that?!

I looked at Junhui at the other side of the table. He greeted my gaze with a smile, which I obviously didn’t return.

This is gonna be a long day....